


DEMONS

by saibugs



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-06 19:18:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18857413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saibugs/pseuds/saibugs
Summary: Not all Autobots are the gods they're seen to be. Sometimes, they have a demon in their midst, quite literally. And wherever the half-demon Nightcloud goes, chaos is sure to follow...





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This work features the OC of my good friend, Ninja, so without her this fanfiction wouldn't be possible! Much love <3

His chest was tight as he dragged himself out of the smoking wreckage. Flames licked around the twisted, scorched metal of his ship, what remained of the fuel burning with intensity. Blue was dripping down his face from the reopened scar on his face, but that wasn’t what he worried about as he managed to stagger to his pedes.

Nightcloud gasped as his spark thu-thumped, missing two beats, beating once, missing another two beats. Every part of his body pained him, and his pacemaker no longer jolted his spark into rhythm. Energon rose in his throat and he expelled it with some violence, crumpling to his hands and knees, heaving and coughing. His jaw slackened and the blue liquid dripped out. His body shook. His visor, cracked and flickering, slid down over his eyes and flashed with a warning. He dismissed it and it slid back up. Then he struggled to his pedes again and leaned on the side of the mangled ship, unable to think, unable to even comm for help. Who could he contact? Who was there to hear him? Decepticons? Autobots? What if he and Cryaotic were alone on this mudball, what if—Cry.

His optics widened as he looked around, his sensors detecting nothing. He always had them locked onto his mate, but… they only worked if he was close by, and they were set to give him an alert if Cry was offline. Since he had no alert—recent or otherwise—he knew Cry was alive. But… where was he?

Night tried to search, but his sparkbeat stopped, and he gasped as his vents constricted. He beat his chest in a desperate attempt to get it working again, but the shock of the blows was doing nothing, and he gasped for air as his systems began a slow and painful shutdown. His legs gave out from underneath him and he crumpled, hitting the dirt, not even that shocking his spark back into a beat. Darkness began to creep into his vision, and he trembled as he fought it. Green flashed as the darkness began to overcome him, and dull thuds—pedesteps, though they sounded so far away—could be heard. But he didn’t hear the shouting, didn’t feel the hands, as the darkness won their battle and swallowed him in its encompassing embrace.


	2. Chapter One

The beeping in the medbay was rhythmic enough to comfort Ratchet as he finished cleaning his tools. Behind him, suspended in the chamber and held up by the metal clamps, the big mech they’d saved was powered down. His helm was slumped forward, his optics closed. And he maintained a quiet vigil beside the form, although nobody was really sure as to why. He had stopped doing work, only doing what he needed to, otherwise spending all his time watching the big mech.

Miko leaned on the banister while Jack and Raf played a racing game, her brown eyes big and wide as she studied the big mech. He was massive, more heavily armoured than even Bulkhead, and the scar on his face was intense. She wondered what sort of massive battle had given him such an awesome mark. And she wondered why he had a tube hooked into the fuel lines on his arm, briefly pumping a strange fluid into his body every several hours. It was this that Ratchet made sure to monitor the closest, so it had to be important… but any questions directed at the medic about this mech were simply waved off and dismissed.

She pulled away and bounced over to Bulkhead. “Do you know who this mech is?” she asked, clambering onto his shoulder, sitting, and leaning back.

Bulkhead looked at her. “I dunno,” he admitted, shrugging. “But he’s an Autobot, and he’s seriously wounded.” He looked over at the big mech, at the fresh weld on his chest where Ratchet had dived in and performed emergency surgery. That was the bit the kids hadn’t seen considering what time of night the big mech had been located. Miko had been annoyed that she hadn’t been with the retrieval team. But they weren’t complaining, considering Ratchet…

“Uuuuggghhh…”

Everyone looked over as the big mech slowly lifted his head. His optics opened, one glowing a beautiful green, the other staying a milky unlit white. The mech slowly looked around, furrowing his optic ridges, focusing on the bots and the humans that came to take a look at him. They wondered if he was violent, or if he would react badly to the suspension. But instead, he looked down at the line in his arm, before focusing on Ratchet. He did not speak, but he did stay still, giving Ratchet the time to safely stop the suspension. The old mech did so quickly but calmly, the tube opening and the arms swinging away from the big mech’s body.

“Woaaah…” Miko breathed as the big mech stepped out of the tube, the line straining somewhat. He paused, looked down at it, then looked at Ratchet, still saying no words. Could he talk? Was he mute? Disabled? Nobody dared to ask as Ratchet disconnected the line, setting the pump aside and watching as the mech shifted his plating back over the wound.

“Yo, thanks.” His casual tone, his calm voice, and the fact he didn’t even seem bothered by his situation took nearly everyone off guard. Miko, Jack and Raf shared looks of shock, while all the bots stared at the big mech. How could he not be bothered…? He’d been near dead when he’d been found and brought back… “Thanks for the patch-up. Would have been fragged.”

“Of course,” Ratchet mused, watching, blue optics filled with worry. “But you should rest—”

“I don’t have time.” He flexed his hands, making sure they were operational. “Time is not on my side.” He looked at them all, his green eye hardening. “Where’s the mech I was with?”

“I’m sorry?”

He turned to face Ratchet. “When I crashed I wasn’t alone. I had someone else with me. You didn’t collect him too?!”

“Nightcloud, settle down. There was nobody with you when we arrived.” Ratchet put a hand on the mech’s—Nightcloud—arm. “Clearly we weren’t the first to get to you, which is something we need to put right.” He walked over to a console and pulled something up, Night following and looking at the images pulled up. “This is where you crashed, around the time we picked up on it. It’s clear there’s been some sort of digging, but you were not located.”

The mech looked at the doctor, then turned and walked over to the hallway leading outside the base. It was clear what his intention was; he was departing. But before he could Miko ran down and stopped right in front of him. His sensors alerted him to her presence in his blind spot, and he looked down at her, raising an eyebrow. “Move, please.”

“You’re cool!”

“Um… thanks, I guess?” He stepped over her. “I do need to go, however. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Find a suitable altmode!” Ratchet called as Night transformed and sped off. Nobody really knew if they’d heard the old doctor, but they could only hope…

* * *

The dark green Chevrolet Colorado sped down the highway, music pumping, holoform leaning back into the chair. His green eye studied the rearview mirror, his GPS system pinging the closer he drove to the located mine. He overtook an old clunker of a truck, weaving back into the left hand lane when safe to do so, ignoring the screeching of a bunch of muscle cars and their dickhead drivers. His chest constricted as he thought of Cry, and his grip tightened as he continued along.

“I’ll find you, Cry, my love,” he mumbled, taking the next turnoff and rolling to a stop at the traffic lights. A truck with large rims, even bigger tyres, and heavy rock music pumping rolled up beside him. Night looked over as the window slid down, exposing a thick-set man with slicked back hair, a poor excuse of a goatee, and reflective shades. Unimpressive to say the least. Just as the man opened his mouth to speak, Night mused, “Compensating for something, are we?”

The man’s mouth shut, and he bared his teeth. The light flicked from red to green and Nightcloud took off, leaving the human in the dust. He had no time for such pettiness. He had bigger fish to fry. And a mate to rescue.

He reached the mine a half hour later, and came to a stop before transforming. He could hear the drilling even from here, and crept close, taking cover behind the rocks surrounding the pit. Vehicon warriors were patrolling the mouth of the cave, their guns armed and their optic slits sweeping the surrounds. But their defences were not impenetrable, and Night crept around until he managed to slip into the cave. The drilling was louder here, but he had to move quickly. Vehicon miners were slave-class, not built for fighting, and that usually meant either Decepticon lieutenants were about… or Megatron himself, to oversee.

His visor slid over his face as he reached the first chamber. Energon crystals jutted out of the wall, casting their vibrant blue glow over everyone and everything there. Night grimaced as he noticed a shiny red mech, one with wheels jutting out of his back, and a sleek silver mech with tall stiletto feet. He cursed to himself and shifted his shoulder cannon into the active position, ready to charge and fire if he was detected. But he remained hidden for a brief moment more, tuning his audials to listen to the lieutenants’ conversation.

It confirmed something he had dreaded hearing: Cry wasn’t here, not in this mine. With another under-the-breath curse Nightcloud went to creep out of the mine, but a Vehicon strode down the tunnel just as he was to make his escape. Both stopped in their tracks, Night sucking in air, the Vehicon eyeballing him for a few seconds before realising Night wasn’t one of theirs. The Vehicon went to shout an alert but Night leapt forward and grabbed his face, crushing it in one servo, then dropping the body and sprinting out. Other Vehicons turned as they heard the thud and raised the alarm, several running after Night and opening fire. As laser fire rained around the big Autobot he transformed and screamed out of the mineshaft, dodging gunfire from the outside and speeding towards the main road.

The Decepticons didn’t bother to give chase as Night took shelter in a town. He pulled into a gas station and turned his engine off, his holoform stepping out and heading into the diner. He needed to collect his thoughts and the more human he presented as, the easier it would be to remain undetected. After the bungle in the mine he couldn’t afford to be caught. The Decepticons would heighten security after this.

He ordered a straight black coffee after sitting in a booth, and looked out the window as the waitress hurried off. He’d taken precautions to hide behind the building, in the car park there, so as three Vehicons drove by he remained undetected. To his relief.

He wondered… ‘Cry, can you hear me?’ he whispered over their sparkbond. He wasn’t sure why he whispered; only Cry would ever be able to hear his words. ‘I’m coming for you. I promise.’ And while he received no reply he knew his mate had heard him.

His coffee was slid in front of him, and Night looked up, thanking the waitress, paying and tipping before resuming his watch on the outside world. When the waitress had her back turned Night pulled a flask out of his holoform’s jacket and opened it, pouring a quarter of the contents into his coffee before sealing it and returning it to his inner pocket. Only then did he scull the coffee, shuddering as the boiling bitter liquid burned his mouth and throat.

He left the diner after returning his mug. His thoughts were muddled and all over the shop. His stomach was doing backflips. And yet he knew what he had to do. All that he had to do was get aboard the Decepticon warship.

And to do that, he had to go back to the mine.


	3. Chapter Two

Nightcloud was quiet as he pulled into a rest stop. He had three active energon mines on his GPS system and didn’t know which to attack first. Obviously he had to be sure of the Decepticon warship’s location, and unfortunately he wasn’t. Because he had no idea what sort of frequency the shielding of the Nemesis was on, and even if he did he couldn’t hope to shut it down. He wasn’t that smart.

His holoform jumped out of the vehicle and closed the door, taking a deep breath, sitting down inside and ordering a coffee. He’d been driving for what seemed like hours, and didn’t know where he’d gone. He was nowhere near the rest of the Autobots and had made sure to distance himself from them. He couldn’t put them at risk for something so personal.

‘Cry?’ he tried. He missed his mate and wanted him to talk, but once more he got nothing. The lack of communication worried him more than anything. That was partly why he wanted to find Cry, and rescue him. Cry needed it. Because while Cry could protect himself, and fight for himself… he would be held in maximum security. And that wasn’t the most worrying thing.

He was just about to close the bond when he received a trickle of… something. He latched onto it and studied that tiny trickle, studied the pain in, his breathing hitching as he felt what Cry did. His hands clenched, and he shot to his feet, storming out without drinking his coffee, tossing payment on the table. He sprinted back to his altmode and swung into the driver’s seat, screeching out of the rest stop and heading towards one of the mines. But as he drove someone drove up beside him, a yellow and black muscle car. His left hand mirror shifted so he could look at the car, and he grimaced before opening a comm line.

::Bumblebee.:: He sped up a bit. ::What are you doing here?::

There was beeping as a reply, and Nightcloud nearly hit the brakes.

::Optimus sanctioned this?!:: he screeched. ::I’m comming him, this is ridiculous, he—::

There was a honking behind them, and Night yelled at Optimus pulled up behind him. He swerved a bit on the road, in panic mode. Bulkhead pulling up beside him stopped him, simply so he didn’t harm the big mech. _Why are they here?! What is going on?! Is Arcee here too?!_ Something swerved so it was in front of him, and the panic sunk in further. _YES ARCEE IS HERE TOO_. He tried to calm down, but he was beginning to hyperventilate. ::Hey, guys, can you please give me some space?::

Optimus returned comm. ::Is everything alright, Nightcloud?::

::I’m sparkbound to someone, he’s in Megatron’s captivity, and he’s locked in this tiny little box and this is making it worse now please BACK OFF.::

The Autobots did so, instead forming a line behind Night instead. The big mech drove, relaxing, then waited for someone to comm. Arcee was the first. ::Night, we’re going to help you rescue whoever you’re looking for.::

::Why?:: He didn’t understand. ::Look, guys, this mech’s a prisoner of the Decepticons, but it’s worse than that, you won’t—::

::We’re aware the one you were with is an ex-Con.::

Night went silent as he flicked his indicator on, pulling off the road and speeding down a steep incline. The truck, two cars and motorcycle followed as he lead them to the mine, and they rolled to a stop as they saw the Decepticon warship hovering above the chasm in the planet’s crush.

Nightcloud transformed back into his primary mode, and shifted his hands into his mace and gun. The others followed suit, watching as Night looked up at the warship. Optimus stepped over and put a servo on his shoulder, his battlemask sliding over his face. “We will get your companion back.”

They all split up to take out the mine’s inhabitants. Night stuck close to Arcee, who was prepared to get into the mine first, and watched as the Vehicons mulled around. He shared a look with her, nodded, and his visor slid down over his optics. He scanned the surroundings, and zeroed in on an unguarded entrance. “Arcee, we can get in there.”

Her optics flickered over, and she nodded. “Go go go go!” They ran into the mine, sneaking through until they found the lift into the Nemesis. Arcee nudged Night towards it. “I’ll take care of the Cons.”

He nodded and ran over to it, hiding amongst the energon cubes there and transforming so he was covered more thoroughly. He waited as the platform rose up, and backed out of the cube shelter, hiding out as Vehicons came in and sorted the cubes into storage. Only when they left did he transform and creep out, tiptoeing through the hallways and using his sparkbond to guide himself to Cry. And he found the tiny closet of a room with some ease; it was tucked out of the way, soundproofed.

‘Cry?’ he tried. There was no reply, and he looked towards the keypad to unlock the door. _Frag it all_. The symbols on the screen were all nonsense to him, so he opted for the next best thing. He shifted the plating around his arm, withdrawing the spikes on his mace, and threw a hard punch. The metal wrought as it gave under his strength, and he tugged it off now that he had a way to grip. His green eye sparkled as he saw the little black and white mech dangling from the roof, eyes squeezed shut, body shaking. Without speaking Night approached, keeping his sensors primed in case Decepticons arrived. He reached up and destroyed the electrocuffs, catching Cry as he fell with a squeak, setting him on his pedes and kneeling. “Hi,” he whispered, cupping Cry’s cheeks as the mech realised who was here. “I’ve come to rescue you.”

“N-Night?” Cry shakily reached up and put his servos over Night’s. “Th-Thank Primus y-you’re here…”

Night pressed a kiss to his forehead before pulling a visor from his subspace, setting it over Cry’s face then scooping him up and holding him close with one arm. With his other he pulled his spear out, twirled it around, and ran out of the room. He could hear Decepticons yelling behind him, likely Vehicons who’d realised the intrusion, or perhaps the Autobots outside had chased them away from the mine. By the sounds of the Nemesis’ engines firing… “SLAG!”

Cry clung as Night sped through the halls, fighting his way through any Vehicons he came across until he reached the flight deck. Clouds rushed past the pair as Night ran to the edge and looked down, his visor calculating the drop and sending the numbers directly to his processor. He didn’t like his chances as the likelihood of damage came up high, but dying was one hundred percent possible if he stayed on this ship. He looked back, Vehicons stalking towards them both with guns ready. Holding Cry closer, Night took a step back and bared his dentae, his visor hiding the red ring appearing in the centre of his green optic.

As the Vehicons came closer Night’s foot slipped and he stumbled, looking back to notice he was on the very edge of the flight deck. His breath caught and he held Cry tighter, though not tight enough to harm him. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

“Of course!” Cry managed, looking up at him. “Night, what—”

“Hold on!” Night whipped around and jumped. The Vehicons yelled and opened fire, some of the laser fire hitting Night’s heavy back armour and doing no damage as gravity pulled the mated pair down. Both mecha screamed as they free-fell through the air, and then…

Night’s legs crunched. The struts bent and snapped upon impact, and he yelled as he crumpled in a heap of metal. His spark raced as the pain shot through him, pulsing and burning. Cry managed to crawl out of his arms but stayed by his side, attempting to soothe him both verbally and through their bond. Neither wanted to look, but both peered at the sparking, mangled scrapheap that had once been called Night’s legs. “O-Oh fr-frag.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Cry managed. He could feel what Night was attempting to keep from him, but he pushed it to the back of his mind and checked the damages. “…But upon review, it’s understandable.”

Pedesteps alerted Cry, and he looked over, his plating beginning to shift so he could protect his mate. Night put a servo on his chest, eyes wet with tears. “E-Easy. They’re allies.” He kept his hand there as Cry slowly settled, watching as the Autobots rounded the corner and skidded to a stop. Night managed a feeble grin and waved to them, but the pain stopped him from talking. Cry moved and knelt beside Night’s blind side, so he could watch the Autobots as they approached and examined their wounded comrade. Optimus frowned and watched Cry, wary but not unkind.

Ratchet checked Night’s legs, saying nothing, his face betraying little. The Autobots let him work, saying little when he fixed some of the struts, welding others back into place. If Night was in any pain it was unclear, although Cry winced every so often in his stead.

After what seemed like cycles, Ratchet spoke: “I can do little else here. You’ll have to return with us.”

Night refused. “I won’t leave Cry, and I know he’d be unwelcome.” He put a hand on Cry’s shoulder. “If I have to forsake medical attention—”

“Don’t be stupid,” Cry interrupted with a hiss. “You can’t walk, you need your legs fixed!” He shifted so he could put a hand on Night’s chest. “I’ll be okay until you return.”

“I’m not abandoning you.” He fixed his gaze not on Ratchet, but on Optimus. “Sir. My mate is important to me. If you need my help on this planet, then you cannot have me without him.”

The Autobots began to argue, but Optimus raised a hand and they all silenced. Arcee’s optics blazed, Bulkhead crossed his arms, Bee beeped a little in protest. Ratchet was the only one who said nothing, turning his head to look at the Prime. Optimus was considering something but his faceplate was unreadable, and Ratchet hoped his kind spark would win out in the end.

Optimus took a deep breath. “Your mate is welcome in our base, Nightcloud. We trust you.”

The Autobots stared at their leader in what Night recognised to be shock, but they all had the smarts to keep their disagreement to themselves, at least in front of Night and Cry. With that, Ratchet and Cry got Night up, supporting his weight—his almost ten tonnes—between them. Arcee commed the base and a ground bridge opened up, with the other Autobots entering first and Ratchet, Night and Cry following.

As they came through the portal, the kids all looked over and blinked at what they saw. Miko’s eyes widened as she saw the damages to Night’s legs, while Raf covered his mouth and Jack winced.

Ratchet and Cry got Night sitting on the medical berth, with Ratchet grabbing a pillow and sitting it under Night’s shoulder before getting him to lay down. Cry reacted as Night did as instructed, reaching up and rubbing his right shoulder. The big mech didn’t seem particularly bothered, simply allowing Ratchet to do as he needed while comforting Cry. He knew it was difficult for his mate to be in such a location, but it was necessary.

It was better than being a captive of the Decepticons, in any case.


End file.
